If someone were to stop you on the street and ask you whose style you’d love to emulate, whose name would you drop?

Perhaps you’d say Carrie Bradshaw – Sarah Jessica Parker’s loveable character on HBO’s cultural gem “Sex & the City” – or maybe you’d go for the small screen and opt for Blair Waldorf of “Gossip Girl.” Whatever your answer may be, there’s an undeniable connection in today’s culture that fashion and film – big or small screen – go hand-in-hand.

In recent years, movies and television have been a vehicle for bringing fashion to the masses. Even though Carrie’s “Sex & the City” outfits (both movie and TV show) were hardly adaptable to the life of the everyday American woman, her love for designer stilettos and a burgeoning closet became a phenomenon that enchanted much of America’s female population and catapulted the show’s stylist Patricia Field into the public eye. (Field was also a stylist for the recent flick “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” starring Isla Fisher.)

Even movies like “Where the Wild Things Are,” a film based on the famous children’s book, have served as inspiration for designers – as evidenced by Opening Ceremony’s capsule collection of furry jumpers and horned sweatshirts.

Turner PR client Eddie Bauer recently had a women’s bomber jacket featured in a segment on USAToday.com entitled, “Amelia Earhart, Pioneer of Style” in which Earhart’s style is described as “aviator chic.” (The movie “Amelia,” based on the famous aviator’s life, is in theaters now.) W Magazine’s fashion market director Teena Lombardo remarked that the bomber is now “ubiquitous” and “a staple.” Which goes to show that even period flicks like “Amelia” are still influencing us stylistically.

A small screen example of this: the smash TV series “Mad Men,” which chronicles the daily happenings of ad exec Don Draper and his ‘60s-era advertising agency. Costume designer Janie Bryant is slated to design the line, which will feature men’s suits (based on those worn by Don and now available at Brooks Brothers) and feminine silhouettes displayed by Don’s housewife Betty (January Jones).

Veteran designers have also taken their inspiration from on-screen characters that have become ingrained in American culture. A prime example: Anna Sui’s Target collection, which featured looks based on each of the main female characters of “Gossip Girl” (Vanessa, Serena, Blair, and Jenny). Sui partnered with the mass retailer for its wildly popular Designer Collaboration series, allowing customers to scoop up a boho dress that would be easily seen on hippie-chic Vanessa at an affordable price.

What does this mean for the future of movie and TV style? We’d bet on more clothing lines fashioned after TV and movie characters, so if your favorite character doesn’t have his or her own capsule collection just yet, don’t get impatient – it may be coming to a retailer near you!